The silence of the place began to try my nerves, and in a sudden,
unexplainable panic I started for the open street. But as I turned,
I saw a man sitting on a bench, which the curve of the balustrade had
hidden from me. His eyes were shut, and he was sleeping soundly.

"The moment before I had been bewildered because I could see no one, but
at sight of this man I was much more bewildered.

"He was a very large man, a giant in height, with long yellow hair which
hung below his shoulders. He was dressed in a red silk shirt that was
belted at the waist and hung outside black velvet trousers which, in
turn, were stuffed into high black boots. I recognized the costume at
once as that of a Russian servant, but what a Russian servant in his
native livery could be doing in a private house in Knightsbridge was
incomprehensible.

"I advanced and touched the man on the shoulder, and after an effort he
awoke, and, on seeing me, sprang to his feet and began bowing rapidly
and making deprecatory gestures. I had picked up enough Russian in
Petersburg to make out that the man was apologizing for having fallen
asleep, and I also was able to explain to him that I desired to see his
master.

"He nodded vigorously, and said, 'Will the Excellency come this way? The
Princess is here.'

"I distinctly made out the word 'princess,' and I was a good deal
embarrassed. I had thought it would be easy enough to explain my
intrusion to a man, but how a woman would look at it was another matter,
and as I followed him down the hall I was somewhat puzzled.

"As we advanced, he noticed that the front door was standing open, and
with an exclamation of surprise, hastened toward it and closed it. Then
he rapped twice on the door of what was apparently the drawing-room.
There was no reply to his knock, and he tapped again, and then timidly,
and cringing subserviently, opened the door and stepped inside. He
withdrew himself at once and stared stupidly at me, shaking his head.

"'She is not there,' he said. He stood for a moment gazing blankly
through the open door, and then hastened toward the dining-room. The
solitary candle which still burned there seemed to assure him that the
room also was empty. He came back and bowed me toward the drawing-room.
'She is above,' he said; 'I will inform the Princess of the Excellency's
presence.'

"Before I could stop him he had turned and was running up the staircase,
leaving me alone at the open door of the dr